Black Swan

Black Swan Movie Poster

The 2010 movie Black Swan is surely interesting for anyone interested in Borderline Personality Disorder. It centers around a young ballet dancer named Nina. Her character portrays a number of symptoms common in Borderline Personality Disorder such as ‘black and white’ thinking, a common characteristic in borderline personality and episodes of idealisation, devaluation and her unstable sense of identity. The film was Oscar nominated and is rated 8,2 at IMDB.

Inside the mind of a Mafia Hitman

 

This is a very interesting video of an interview with one of the most notorious killers of our times. Richard Kuklinski was born in 1935 and died in 2006 in prison where he had been since 1988. He was sentenced to a life in prison after being convicted of 3 murders although the real number of victims was somewhere between one and two hundred. He served as a mafia hitman for over 30 years until he was caught. In this interview a psychiatrist talks to Kuklinski about his career as a hitman, his childhood and explains why he became so successful as a hitman. The explanation is in part that he suffered from a toxic mixture of personality disorders and grew up in a very dysfunctional home. A must see for all interested in personality disorders and forensic psychology. Wikipedia also has some information on Richard Kuklinski: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Mind Reading capacity in Borderline Personality Disorder

In a study published in 2012, the mind reading capacity of Borderline Personality Disorder patients was estimated. This mind reading capacity is often referred to as "Theory of mind", but that is a phrase describing the ability to understand the mental state of others. It has been hypothesized that those suffering from BPD have reduced capacities to mentalize others state of mind and that they have enhanced emotional sensitivity compared to others. This research compares 31 BPD patients to 27 healthy controls in order to compare their Theory of Mind. They used a test called "Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test" that consists of 36 black and white images of peoples eyes. The participants were then supposed to identify the emotion that the eyes where supposed to show. Results of the study showed that no difference was between the groups in their mind-reading accuracy. The BPD group did, however, show greater confidence in their answers than the control group. These high-confidence answers might be descriptive of the social interactions of BPD patients and contribute to their high rate of interpersonal conflicts since it is rigid and hard to change. Even a wrong answer with a lower confidence might be more beneficial to social relations since it prompts further reasoning processes and opens the possibility for a revised answer.

Find the full article here:
http://www.mendeley.com

Borderline Personality Disorder and Conversion Disorder

An interesting study published in 2004 evaluated dissociative disorder and the psychiatric comorbidity in patients with Conversion Disorder. Conversion Disorder is a disorder where patients become paralysed in part or all of their body but without any physical sign of nerve or spinal damage. The disorder is commonly associated with dissociation and patients suffering from this disorder report high incidence of physical abuse in childhood (46%) and childhood sexual abuse (33%). Comorbidity with Borderline Personality Disorder is quite common or 23,7 in this study.

See the full study here:
http://www.focus.psychiatryonline.org

Personal blog of a BPD patient

This personal blog written by a person diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder reveals some of the daily struggles a person with this disorder has to face. It surely gives some insight into the disorder and according to some of the comments on the blog it has helped them to learn how this blogger deals with it and made them seek appropriate therapy. You can find the blog at the link below.

http://borderlinepersonalityblog.blogspot.com/

1967 film "In Cold Blood" examined

The film "In Cold Blood" from 1967 is examined in a paper as it is based on a serial killer suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Paper Abstract: This paper will examine how the 1967 film, "In Cold Blood," represented the Antisocial Personality Disorder in its cinematic portrayal of the real-life serial killer Richard Hickock. At the time it was an introspective film, filmed in the actual locations surrounding the crime. Hickock was executed in 1965 for participating in the murders for profit of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas.

Full Paper here:
http://www.kon.org/urc/v11/gunter.html

In Cold Blood film cover

BPDWorld

BPDWorld has some information on Borderline Personality Disorder and even some support resources aimed at those suffering from the disorder.
http://www.bpdworld.org/

Proposed Changes to Personality Disorder Diagnoses in DSM-5

Soon the DSM-5 manual will be published and it includes some major changes in how Personality Disorders are diagnosed. Check their page to see the proposals.
http://www.dsm5.org

NIMI has some good info on Borderline Personality Disorder

The National Institute of Mental Health has some great information regarding Borderline Personality Disorder

http://www.nimh.nih.gov